Mumbai: Given the steady spike in the number of new Covid-19 cases reported daily in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has turned its focus to four of the city wards. Areas that have come under the civic radar are Borivli, Andheri east, Andheri west and Mulund, where the spike has been noticed, senior civic officials have said.
"Currently, we are reviewing the situation across the city, asking assistant commissioners of the respective administrative wards to take a call on the situation. However, we are focusing more on certain wards. Apart from M west ward (Govandi, Chembur), where the ward officer has stepped up the containment measures to curb the spread, we are also focusing on R central ward (Borivli, Charkop), K east ward (Andheri east, Vile Parle), K west (Andheri west, Juhu, Versova) and T ward (Mulund)," said Additional Municipal Commissioner (Health) Suresh Kakani.
Mumbai city on Wednesday registered a sharp spike, with 721 new cases, the second highest single-day count in 2021. The city had reported 795 cases on January 6, 2021, after which the number of cases started sliding downward, to 600 and then even below 400 until the first week of February. Mumbai’s Covid death toll stood at 11,428, with three deaths being reported on Wednesday. The city currently has 5,943 active Covid-19 cases.
Given the daily spike in cases, some civic wards have issued letters to housing societies under their jurisdiction and instructed them to follow Covid-19 guidelines, Kakani said.
"Our SoP for turning an area into a containment zone and sealing a building is the same. We are sealing a building only when two or more cases are detected in a building. So far, we have got no cluster cases. But we are ready with our resources in such an eventuality. We have been appealing to the citizens to be alert and follow all the safety protocols," Kakani added.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 4,787 fresh cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, the state's highest single-day count in 2021. The state’s cumulative case count has jumped to 20,76,093. Among the districts, Amravati reported the highest rise in a day, from 82 on Tuesday to 230 on Wednesday. The state reported 40 deaths due to Covid-19, taking the cumulative fatalities to 51,631. The fatality rate in the state stands at 2.49 per cent, the health department said.
In all, 3,853 patients were discharged from across the state, taking the total number of recoveries to 19,85,261. The number of active cases in the state has increased to 38,013.
The state has reported more than 3,000 cases in a single day for the eighth consecutive day, indicating a sharp rise in daily cases.
The Mumbai Metropoltian Region (MMR) or Mumbai division reported 1,237 cases, the highest across the state, followed by Akola division, which reported 1,041 cases and Pune division, with 1,031 cases on Wednesday.
